Some alleys present dangers, with overhanging power lines and rutted pavement. Photo by Carol Toler.
Dallas Sanitation Director Clifton Gillespie briefed council members on a new trash collection plan last week — one he hopes will save money for the city, keep sanitation workers safe and anger fewer homeowners along trash collection routes. Instead of eliminating all alley pickup in favor of curbside service, as Gillespie proposed in February of last year, the new plan calls for changes only to homes where alleys are 9 feet wide or less on blocks where most homes have front driveways, where alleys aren’t fully paved and where dead-end alleys are longer than 200 feet.
About 30,000 homeowners — including many in Lakewood and East Dallas — will be forced to pull their rolling bins to and from the street beginning in 2026 if the department moves forward with the plan. Council approval is not required.
“Our real concern is safety in narrow alleys,” Gillespie told council members, some of whom had attended community meetings regarding the original proposal and heard vehement protests from residents who said they’d be forced to pull bins through their homes or down steeply terraced yards to get their trash picked up at the street. Many expressed concern for elderly or disabled neighbors who’d be unable to handle the weekly task.
Gillespie explained that larger, side-loading trucks with one driver are used for pickup at curbside, but his department uses smaller, back-loading trucks with a driver and two helpers in the alleys. Their equipment — and people — face challenges when alleys are unpaved, cracked or overgrown.
“We see routine equipment damage that is running in 8- and 9-foot alleys, contact with fences, utility poles, overhead wires. More troubling are the worker injuries and near-misses for electrocution and fires,” Gillespie said, according to the Dallas Morning News.
About 64% of local customers already have their trash collected at the curb, but across North and East Dallas, many homes were designed with alley collection in mind.
Although a vote of the council is not required to implement the operational decision, several council members shared their input.
“I think alley service should be maintained,” newly elected District 11 representative Bill Roth told The Advocate. “I consider it a basic service that should be provided by the city, and the homeowner should not be penalized. This hybrid plan will be difficult to implement in many neighborhoods — especially in District 11 — because most homes were designed for alley service. This plan will cause significant disruption to our neighborhood.”
Roth said many of the problems noted by Gillespie were the result of city alleys not being maintained properly.
“The alleys are largely the city’s responsibility,” Roth said.
Other council members expressed appreciation that Gillespie and his team reworked the initial plan and developed a hybrid proposal which will allow residents with 10-foot alleys to keep alley service.
“Our sanitation department took our concerns seriously this past year — listening to residents and working through logistics,” said District 10 Council Member Kathy Stewart representing Lake Highlands. “They’ve developed a plan that minimizes the impact to our community — and I am grateful.”
“It became very evident that our sanitation process needs modernization due to safety concerns for our workers and resident properties,” said Paula Blackmon, who represents District 9 in East Dallas and expects to have more than 7,500 constituents affected. “The department took time working with our customers to find a better approach forward to continue to keep our costs down and maintain the expected service. I hope our affected customers understand staff’s path forward and will reach out with questions and concerns.”
Gillespie presented three other options he is considering: switching to curbside pickup for all homes where alleys are 9 feet wide or smaller, purchasing 100 new smaller trucks to maintain curtain levels of alley service or discontinuing alley pickup across the city.
Gillespie also proposed a rate restructuring plan for alley versus curbside pickup. Residents with curbside service would see their monthly bill decrease 4.3% from $39.73 to $38.02, while those with alley pickup would see a 15% increase from $39.73 to $45.69. This measure would require approval by the city council.
